1992 Daihatsu Hijet“The HiVolt”

1992 Daihatsu Hijet First Conversion, direct drive, 4x4, AC motor and Lipo4s. This is a Jumbo cab model so it actually has some usable cab space.... in that you can actually sit in it without your knees on the dash and your head hitting the roof.

Curtis 1238-7501 550 Amps peak, 72-108V, limited to 80%, 440A to be a bit easier on the cells

Batteries

24 Thunder Sky 100AHA, 3.20 Volt, Lithium Iron PhosphateAir channels in the insulation under the battery pack allow warm air from out thermostatically controlled battery heater to circulate through the battery pack, heating it up in winter time.

System Voltage

72 Volts

Charger

Elcon PFC1500Currently charging to 3.7V/cell, with a custom battery management system. BMS includes current control for the charger to actively lower the current to keep the high cell below the cutoff. This allows a complete charge and full balancing to within 2mV every time. In cab LCD shows charge current, Wh's, voltage and balancing status.

53 MPH (85 KPH)Top speed on the flat is about 85km/hr. The motor is at 5500rpm at 80km/hr due to the small tires and high final drive. There isn't much power at that speed due to our low system voltage but its just right for the city.

Acceleration

Great up to 50km/hr, Starts falling off quickly after 60km/hr. The acceleration is decieving as it's constant from right off the line up till about 40km/hr so you get going faster than you think, lots of fun to drive! The current limit is set at 80% or 440A to go a little easier on the cells.

Range

37 Miles (59 Kilometers)Maximum range should be 60km in the city. Better than expected and work is ongoing to improve it. Got 50.5 km at mostly ~80km/hr which drew 103Ah at which point the lowest cell was hitting 2.8V with even low current draws.

Watt Hours/Mile

223 Wh/Mile Mixed city driving at ~6 degrees celsius, up and down the edmonton river valley hills a few times, cruising between 50 and 60 km/hr for 32.6km gave 140Wh/km from the pack and 170Wh/km from the wall after a full recharge. No heater use. Should get better with less hills and in warmer weather. With Alberta's coal fired electricity this puts my C02 at 150g/km which is still less than the gas truck would have produced.
*Update, warm weather flat driving in the city gives 125Wh/km, 140Wh/km from the wall. With more up to date CO2 numbers for Alberta electricity production this puts the truck at 115g/km! Much better!

EV Miles

Start:

43,106 Miles (69,357 Kilometers)

Current:

43,938 Miles (70,696 Kilometers)

Total:

832 Miles (1,338 Kilometers)

As of 10/18/2012

Seating Capacity

2 adults

Curb Weight

1,470 Pounds (668 Kilograms)That is stock, should end up within 100 lbs of that haven't weighed it yet.

Tires

145-75R12

Conversion Time

~8 hours per week for the last 2 years, 1000 hours total including most of the design and some of the research.

Conversion Cost

~$13,000 including the truck

Additional Features

My friend John and I are working on this project. It is finally mostly finished and we're trying it out as a car sharing deal between our two families. We're within biking distance so moving the truck back and forth should be pretty easy. The goal was to have a usefull city runabout with all weather capability. With the original transfer case we retain selectable 4wd with low range.

Both our battery box and the cab have been insulated and during winter the battery heater and an auxilary cab heater will come on with a timer so you can get into a warm truck with warm fully charged batteries! The BMS includes an interlock to prevent the heaters from kicking in if the charger is still going in order to prevent the breaker from blowing.

Check out my blog for more pictures and updates! Link at the top.

Some cold weather testing has revealed that these batteries really don't like it below about -5 C but warming them to even above 0 deg C helps quite a bit and they really perform the best above 15 deg C. The problem is voltage sag. At a battery temp of -15C, a 50A draw caused the fully charged cells to sag to 2.7V, and the controller starts cutting out. Warming them is essential and makes a big difference.

The truck passed the safety inspection spring 2012 and its on the road! I've put several hundred km on it so far driving to work and for errands and its been a blast! Based on the current electricity price and my Wh/km from the wall my cost to drive the truck is just 1.3 cents/km.

**Aside** In terms of just cost I will burn about 70 calories walking 1 km, if I only eat rice that's about 3.5 cents/km! But I do like to eat regardless and I probably normally end up eating at least that extra 70 cal anyways so I don't think this is a valid argument for driving vs. walking or biking. That said if you have to drive the electric mini truck is a pretty efficient (and fun) way to go about it!